In 1989, seven years after developing the compact disc alongside Philips, Sony stopped producing vinyl. The latter was seen as an old, outdated format that was inferior to vinyl in every conceivable way. However, 30 years on, and with CD sales slumping hard, vinyl sales are growing again.

Sony Starts Pressing Vinyl Again

This resurgence in vinyl has led Sony to open a new pressing plant in a factory southwest of Tokyo. According to Nikkei, Sony will start making vinyl records again in March 2018, and the company has already retrofitted a recording studio with the equipment needed to make masters.

Sony is being quite vague about its future plans. However, reports suggest it will start by pressing older, popular Japanese music before moving onto more contemporary artists. If vinyl sales continue their upward trajectory then Sony is sure to increase production to take advantage.

There is one problem holding the vinyl renaissance back, and that’s the lack of engineers who actually know how to properly press vinyl. So, and I can’t quite believe I’m about to say this, there is a career in manufacturing vinyl still to be had. At least until the robots take over.

Do you own a turntable? Or did you ditch yours like so many of us did in the 90s? Do you still buy new vinyl records? Or is your collection full of old LPs you could never face binning? How do you feel about the vinyl renaissance? Please let us know in the comments below!